Razor Hills Rescue
RT June 26, 2009 / IC Time June 26,2030 Razor Hills Jagged hills loom overhead, so badly damaged that they're nothing but ripped, rusty metal with still-sharp edges. The ground is covered with sharp fragments, deeply imbedded and impossible to drive over without shredding tires. On all sides are closely-spaced piles of fragmented metal, spires jutting like spears from every angle imaginable, an insane conglomeration of razor blades awaiting the unwary traveler. Fierce winds sweep down from the desert to the northeast, making odd sounds as they howl through the jumble of razor-edged metal. Sometimes it sounds like beautiful but eerie music, at others it sounds like a city of Transformers screaming in their death agonies. The Razor Hills have been around for a very long time. Though they were once mountains in and of themselves, Unicron's not so gentle manhandling of Cybertron during his assault in 2005 has created a forboding atmosphere of sharp and jagged metal. Even before the damage the place was inhospitable and desolate; a place someone only ever went to go in order to hide themselves or something else. Now, a single figure has been picking over one jagged peak for days with a tracking device in his hand. Some time ago, the blue-armored shape lost his footing and tumbled into a cavern opened up by Unicron's pinky. Within, a small communications station and data library has been exposed and through this, Crosshairs wanders with a look of surprise on his face. The problem exists however, of communicating exactly what he has found. Short range radio will not penetrate the mountains . . and so he is faced with one other option. The old armorer sets to work, and cobbling something togeather a long range broadcast comes rocketing out of the Razor Hills. << Chief Armorer Crosshairs in distress. I seem to have fallen into a cavern and I can't get up. >> A pause in his voice. << It looks like I've managed to find the Apocalyticon's last routing station. You lads want to come here fast, though. This is unshielded broadband. 'Cons will be here quick. >> Sure enough, he knows it's sort of dumb, but there is little choice this far out. And so, hefting his rifle he sits .... to wait for backup or assault. Combat: Crosshairs sets his defense level to Protected. Combat: Astrotrain sets his defense level to Neutral. Combat: Compile sets his defense level to Neutral. Compile looks as he hears a radio transmission and listens to it. << Chief Armorer Crosshairs in distress. I seem to have fallen into a cavern and I can't get up. >> as he blinks, "Sounds liek a personal problem," he adds as he chuckles and thinks, "Are we there yet?" he asks Astrotrain. Decepticon Shuttle is here alright! Although the implications of some apoc-whatchacallit would be lost on him, he knows that it's probably something important, and there's an autobot that found it first who needs a right proper thrashing! Of course he's hardly alone, with his cargo bay no doubt carrying a few extra passengers as he cuts down over the ravines, rocketing along at dizzying speeds as the triplechanger homes in on the source. A display in his cockpit showing a map pings out more and more rapidly the closer he gets, "Keep yer afterburners cooled, we'll get there!" he snaps towards Compile, doing his best to concentrate on not flying them into a canyon wall in the process. The distress signal is broadcasted. Every signal has to go somewhere, and Soundwave goes everywhere. Having heard the plea for assistance, he two makes his own announcement... securely Decepticons. <<"Soundwave to all available Decepticons within proximity of the following coordinates.... *transmits coordinates* are to rendezvous with Soundwave, immediately.">> The Commander locks and loads the missiles onto his shoulder mount and takes to the air in great haste. Sharkticon is riding along in Astrotrain. Earth had some tasty morsels, but Cybertron was really where all the good yummies were. "Gnaw get foooood?" he asks, jumping up and down a bit excitedly, "Get Autobot to eeaaaat?" He wags his tail, the spiky mace end quite possibly digging scratches into Astrotrain's deck plating. Wind whistles through the crags, haunting and foreboding, coughing up updrafts and sudden sluices that would sling small aircraft into the waiting maw of sharpened metal splinters. Slightly larger aircraft, at least those sporting overpowered engines, might fare a bit better. With a wild whoop as her glossy white belly barely clears a rakish set of shards, Fusillade hearkens to Soundwave's call. <> Amazingly, Red Alert is not passed out drunk when the signal comes. It's luck alone that has him on Cybertron - luck and the fact that Nightbeat threw out all the high-potency booze in their Earth bases, forcing the currently-aged Security Director to go further afield than he normally would. He receives the signal, groans, and triggers some encryption codes before rolling out himself, making his best sped through to Razor Hills. Red Alert transforms into his Fire Chief's Car mode. Fire Chief's Car transforms into his Red Alert mode. Red Alert has encrypted this channel. Red Alert transforms into his Fire Chief's Car mode. Red Alert says, "Anyone on Cybertron catch that damned unsecured /general/ frequency alert? Sounds like Crosshairs has trouble. Head to Razor Hills, expect Decep- yup, they're listening. I'll set up an operational frequency." Kup drives across the razor hills, crunching through the jagged terrain with careless disregard, certain his reinforced tires will handle even this unfriendly landscape. "Ahhh, the old man fell down and get can't get up!" Kup snickers. "You know what? It's *great* being young because I don't have to worry about that anymore. Haw haw haw!" The body of the truck reflects his newly rejuvenated age. It's even shinier and better looking than it was when this mess with the Bird started. "Hey, anyone remember to bring a cable or something, so we can pull him up? Left mine back at base." Kup falls forward, folding up into really old looking futuristic truck! Scorch had planned to settle down for a nice long nap when the transmission from Crosshairs was received. Knowing that somebody is sure to be along to pester him into offering help he locks his weapons into place and decides to just get it done before the nagging begins. Slowly he makes his way out of the main base gates and takes a moment to remember how to get where he's going. A quick nod to himself, two forward strides, and a leap has him taking to the skies on his way to the hills. Kup says, "Oh, good, we'll have something to do, then" Crosshairs cannot stand waiting. He really can't. Especially when the stakes are quite as high as they are at this moment. Afterall, he's stuck in a big hole in the ground which might offer some protection but it isn't going to help him much if the Decepticons decide to push in numbers. It's all he can really do to hope that the Autobots get here first. But there are certain things he can do to even the odds. Pinpointer transforms, crouching down beside his other half as Crosshairs begins to pull things from subspace. A pair of pistols are magnetically attached to his hips, and two more to either side of his chest. Finally, a long looking rifle is pulled from subspace and slung across his back. Then Pinpointer transforms and Crosshairs crouches under some debris as best he can -- hoping to see without being seen as he tracks the incoming Decepticon shuttle through his gunsight. Combat: Crosshairs takes extra time to aim his next attack on Decepticon Shuttle . Scorch says, "Wut wif all da fall down holes? First him Grimlock falls and go booms now him Crosshair do same, do nobody watch where dem going?" Keeper puts away his copy of the Autobot Handbook, somehow dogearred and worn despite being in datapad form. He deploys from an underground way station and transform into his four legged monsterbot mode to traverse the Razor Hills more confidently. His large paws rely on his own razor sharp blade-claws to keep from slipping or falling to his peril. He makes his way towards the distress call at various paces. Runiing and leaping where he can, practically tip-toeing where it's more trecherous. Keeper, the hardened security mech, transforms down to a four legged monstrosity. Are we sure this is an Autobot? Keeper says, "Keeper enroute." Soundwave notes multiple Decepticon and Autobot signatures congregating towards the same position as everyone closes in. <<"Negative, Fusillade. Soundwave wants artifacts intact. Carpet bomb Autobots at your discretion if doing so poses no risk to the routing station. Astrotrain, Compile, Gnaw... provide supressing cover fire for Fusillade on Fusillade's signal.">> Upon nearing the crevasse, he lands at the lip of the maw, gazing from the edge of descent into the depths below... scanning, searching... Decepticon Shuttle has been known to hold Devastator and a whole squabbling Decepticon army inside of him! He'll be darned if a single sharkticon tail is gonna do much more than countless loads of cargo that he's hauled over the years. Doesn't mean he's too happy about it though. "Hey! No scratching the finish! Git out!" And he promptly opens his side hatch and rolls harshly to one side to send the sharkticon rolling on his way. With that done, he rolls back on course, the heavy *PINGPINGPINGPING* of the radio signal all but deafening in his audials. "Looks like we're right on target! Everybody out!" Not that there's many others inside but, you know...he's just making sure. He transformed once when he didn't realize there was a Decepticon still inside him and it got a little...messy. With a twist of ailerons, Fusillade wedges her airframe in between a bristling bower of interlocked shards of landscape, a giddy whoop escaping her at how close to danger she gets. There's a disappointed mumble at Soundwave's orders, and she adds, <> The beeping from her rangefinder codes increase in tempo until she is over the site, blowing past the cavern. She may not linger, but the sound from her engines most certainly does, the crackling sear echoing downward to Crosshairs's position. "Let's see here, Autobots, Autobots, Autobots..." Kup's rejuvenated teal armor glints finely in the ambient light. "Ah ha! Shiny..." She banks hard, and pulls a windup turn overhead, making herself a visible target to him and any other Autobots that might be in his immediate vicinity. Sharkticon is unceremoniously dumped from Astrotrain, rolling like a billiard ball as he makes his exit. He's still rolling as he falls to the ground, right to the edge of a crater. Kup says, "Hey, I guess so. Maybe it's their *age* catching up with 'em." Compile gets a big grin as his weapons power up, "Giggidy some action." and he looks and gets out of the shuttle and nods as he tries to find the target. Red Alert says, "Shuddup, punk." Kup says, "Uh, think I see one of the Decepti--FRAG YOU!" Red Alert says, "I'm already pretty damned fragged, thanks." Crosshairs is still waiting; crouched there under that debris as he waits for backup. So far, he's seen Astrotrain . . . Fusillade flying overhead and now Gnaw on the lip of the crater. Apparently he decides what to do there because he swings his weapon away from Astrotrain to point it at the little Sharkticon and lets him have both barrels. The shot is extremely loud as a pair of rocket propelled grenades go blasting forth -- showing both Autobots and Decepticons alike where the final location is. << Hope you lads aern't far away! Mighty unfriendly company here! >> He says over more local broadband. Combat: Crosshairs misses Sharkticon with his RPG: Single Shot (Laser) attack! Fire Chief's Car may not be as fast as he used to be - two weeks ago! - but he's still a fragging sports car, meaning he can still manage some pretty impressive ground speeds... right up until he actually gets to the edge of the Razor Hills, at which point he's forced to slow down to pick out safer pathways, and eventually is forced to robot mode instead. He looks up overhead and curses - the 'Cons are well ahead of him. Fortunately, he's got a good eye. As he picks his way by foot towards the source of the distress call, he takes stock of all locations... Fusillade seems to be going after Kup. Good. Maybe teach that punk a lesson. Instead, he takes aim at Astrotrain, though the distance at this point wears away at the potency of his attack. Fire Chief's Car transforms into his Red Alert mode. Combat: Red Alert strikes Decepticon Shuttle with his High-Energy Particle Beam Rifle attack! -5 Red Alert says, "Operational freq established. Should come up as FunCrosshairsRescue. Get on it." Cybertruck starts to swerve left to right as he observes Fusillade bearing down on him. <> A turret pops up from the roof of his truck mode, swiveling up to aim up at her. <> Pew pew goes the turret! Cybertruck then adds, <> Combat: Cybertruck strikes Space-Going B-1R Lancer with his Back-Mounted Laser attack! -3 Scorch contiues to fly on at a less than rapid pace, but since he was able to avoid most of the areas his ground based fellows had to drive around it doesn't take him long to fall in line above them. Keeping pace as best he can the others quickly begin to out distance him and force a course adjustment. Giving up on the road and paths he heads direct for the signal letting the hill tops pass below. It's not long before a few moving objects can be seen both in the air and on the metallic peaks. "Look like me Scorch gets to have more funs den pull fool from hole, good ting me not falls sleep befores." Diving lower he tries to find a spot to land that will both support his weight easily and allow him a path towards the crater. Temple Dog crests a deadly ridge and surveys the lay of the land ahead. Decepticons at all altitudes. Ragtag Autobots converging. Keeper leaps forward and points his claws down, turning them into mock skate blades. He slides down the slope and leaps over a jagged outcropping, landing and continuing the slide. Curling his paws further, his blade claws turn from skates to anchors, digging into the metal ground and slowing him down to transform. Going into a kneeling crouch, his tail transforms inot a hand blaster and goes to his open hand. Like roman candle bursts, a series of red pulses fire up after Fusillade, trailing after her more as distraction/warning shots. Keeper, the brutally fierce looking horned lion-dog, transforms back into his two-legged less terrifying robot mode. Soundwave takes in the secrets of the depths. Very old communication devices, beyond archaic. Any other individual would likely be incapable of knowing the machinery, but Soundwave's mastery of such things is unrivaled. How it came here is anyone's guess, the Commander looks up to the star-lit sky, the great force of Unicron's hand having revealed the riddles of the past in an impromptu chasm. Even then, this location was difficult to spot overhead. Likely Crosshairs stumbling upon the site was sheer dumb Autobot luck. As if on cue, Crosshairs discharges his weapon... revealing his cover and location to Soundwave. The Decepticon narrows his ruby visors and begins to hover down towards the trapped Autobot's position. "Autobot, there is nowhere to run. Take solace. You have uncovered a great find. It shall be your epitaph." He fires a single shot to provide some cover for his own approach. Sharkticon is still rolling around when Crosshairs fires at him, so by sheer luck he's out of the line of fire when it passes by. He responds by unrolling and jumping down after the Autobot that attacked him. His maw opens as he hopes for a taste of Autobot fuel line. Combat: Sharkticon strikes Crosshairs with his bite (Punch) attack! Decepticon Shuttle banks to one side as he overflies the crater, starting to come back for another pass, when he and Red Alert are joined by a brilliant beam of light for a split second! Instead of this being some magical bonding moment between two individuals, it's actually a shot from the Autobot's rifle that clips the shuttle's port wing, bringing a surprised grunt and a brief thin tendril of smoke from the point of impact. "Gunh!" He can be heard exclaiming a moment later, his sensors sweeping wildly before they home in the source. Red Alert has changed apparently, and more than likely the triplechanger doesn't recognize who he is...not that it matters, the important thing is he's wearing at Autobot symbol! "Oh yeah!?" He can be heard exclaiming as he tips his nose downwards, starting a strafing run on the Autobot's position as his undercarriage lasers start to light up, stitching the side of the crater in a pattern that crawls it's way towards Red Alert's position, "Dance, Autobucket! DANCE!" Combat: Decepticon Shuttle strikes Red Alert with his Heavy Laser attack! -2 Combat: Soundwave misses Crosshairs with its Epitaph Cover Fire attack! -5 Compile looks at the thing as well and nods, "I would love to get my hands ont hat and learn more about it," he says to Soundwave as he hears the engines and sees..... Kup, "I got the old timer," he says simply as he runs for Kup, "Here Kup, I got a gift for you," he says as he takes aim and fires on the Autobot. Combat: Compile strikes Cybertruck with his Micro Rockets attack! At some point, the weaponsfire was going to come. It really was just a matter of when, and at what part of her it was being aimed at. Fusillade emits a wild 'gaaaaah' as the skies light up around her, swivelling about in an effort to evade. Badly. Kup's aim is as steady as ever, and several bolts punch through her left wingtip. "Well alright then, let's keep you busy!!" She plummets, argon laser fire cutting and chewing into the fragile rock around Kup's feet, aiming to block his forward motion toward the crevasse. Some of them might actually hit the nimble youth. Maybe. Combat: Space-Going B-1R Lancer misses Cybertruck with her Toe-Popping Cherrybomblets (Laser) attack! << As much as I hate to be a bother, lads 'n lasses if anyone present. In addition to being stuck in this here hole, I'm now teaching a duo lesson in old-man marksmanship to Soundwave and Gnaw. Someone want to jump Soundwave and give me a little break here? >> This is what Crosshairs says as he hits the deck to avoid Soundwave's shot. Impacting into the ground and tumbling, he is a fairly easily caught in the lower leg by Gnaw. Thrashing violently for a moment he decides against trying to physically wrestle the Sharkticon off of him and instead attempts to stomp on his face with his opposite foot. "Ain't breakfast, ya little glitch." He snaps, attempting to stomp some more in an effort to force the little ball thingy to let go. Meanwhile, Soundwave might notice a little broil of smoke and a few sparks from the terminal behind Crosshairs. This equipment is still active. Though, probably not for long if people keep shooting it. Combat: Crosshairs sets his defense level to Neutral. Combat: Crosshairs strikes Sharkticon with his Smash attack! Normally nimble, Red Alert tries to dodge out of the way of Astrotrain's assault. Whether it's due to lack of cover that won't STAB HIM BACK or age-dulled reflexes, however, he doesn't manage to move in time, taking the blast in his non-rocket-bearing-shoulder. <> Red snaps at Crosshairs over the same frequency he'd been using. <> Despite injuries, he keeps moving towards the source of Crosshairs' signal, returning fire on Astrotrain. "Ain't much of a dancer. I've always preferred fireworks!" he shouts back, taking another shot. Combat: Red Alert misses Decepticon Shuttle with his High-Energy Particle Beam Rifle attack! -1 Scorch tests his footing as he touches down and wastes little time moving towards the edge of the crater. Now and again he uses his flight system to hover down to an area easier to navigate. As he moves the sounds of combat begin to errupt around him as flashes of laser fire light up the sky. "Hmm stupids grounds gettings in way!", he bellows once as he ducks beneath a jagged spike. A few more yards has him at the craters edge but he was not the first one there as weapons fire is already being exchanged below. Reaching back he draws his rifle and starts down to help Crosshairs. "You no worries Crosshair, me Scorch am here now so me tink it times dem Septicons do da running ting fore me haves to breaks dem in half." Keeper pauses, tapping the side of his helmet, and then rises to both feet. Crosshairs call heard, Keeper answers the distress. He charges towards the crater and Soundwave. "Now hear this..." He detaches a bell from above his shoulder and chucks it towards Soundwave. The gold orb glows from the thin bell slit o-o and explodes wherever it lands. Combat: Keeper strikes Soundwave with his Bell Pulse Grenade (Disruptor) attack! Cybertruck retorts to Crosshairs as laser fire streaks down at him from above, forcing him to jink wildly across the jagged terrain, <> Rockets slam against his front end, doing a surprising amount of damage, and it doesn't take long for Kup to identify Compile as the source. "Oh, yeah, nice, gift--" he grunts as he drives right through the swarm of munitions. "I got one for you, too--it's called A POWERSLIDE TO THE FACE!" Then, Kup hits his emergency brake and pulls hard to the left, intending to slam right into Compile with his right side. But whether or not he hits, Kup misjudges the treacherous terrain, catching a tire on a jagged piece of metal sticking out, and flipping into the air right towards the crater! "HOLY FRAG!!!" Combat: Kup sets his defense level to Guarded. Combat: Cybertruck misses Compile with his Old-Fashioned Overrun attack! -6 The Sharkticon takes the boot full to the face. A few teeth are knocked out in the process. Oh, he's mad, now. Mad, and hungry. He tries to eat the leg that kicked him. He'd argue about Crosshairs being breakfast, but conversation isn't Sharkticon 's strong suit. He makes his best arguments with his teeth. Combat: Sharkticon misses Crosshairs with his Shark Attack! attack! -5 Decepticon Shuttle jinks just as Red Alert's second shot screams up past the triplechanger's chromed hull. "Haw! Too slow!" His afterburners ignite dramatically as he blasts forward in a blurr of speed, rocketing down over Red Alert's position and landing on his big, blocky feet with a hard *THUD* of impact. He spins in place, sneering towards the Autobot, "This is gonna be easier'n I thought! Soon as I'm done with you, I'll have to scrap another two or three Bots just to feel like I accomplished somethin!" And with that, he displays not only his speed, but his strength as he leans down and all but rips out a large chunk of the ravine, hefting it up over his head as bits of metal shriek and are torn away as he hefts his makeshift 'projectile' over his head. "Now I'd say this won't hurt a bit, but it wouldn't be any fun that way!" And with that, he hurls the huge quasi-boulder at Red Alert, surely about to squash him flat! Perhaps Red Alert dodged at the last second, perhaps Astrotrain's aim was just a smidgen off. Nevertheless, his 'boulder' soars just over the head of his intended target and drops down into the ravine, much to the triplechanger's chargrin, "Slaggit!" But the story doesn't end here. The boulder soars on downwards, bouncing and rolling off the side as it picks up momentum, then finally reaches the bottom, following a coincidentally curved part of the ground that actually loops back -upward- and sends it hurtling into the sky again, so much so that it flies up past the lip of the ravine once more! ...and comes right back towards Astrotrain. "...you gotta be f#*@ing kidding m..." An earth-shaking rumble and crash later, and only the triplechanger's feet can be seen sticking out from under the wayward 'boulder' twitching erratically. Don't worry folks, he'll be fine! In a chorus of shifting and spinning parts, Astrotrain's body spins and lifts up into his large robot mode. Soundwave is momentarily distracted at the sight of spewing smoke and showers of sparks erupting from the archaic equipment. He clambers past Crosshairs, letting Gnaw do his Sharkticon thing, Soundwave thrashing aside all other artifacts to get to the communications log. He had no love for history, it's aesthetic or sentimental value meant nothing, only the information he could obtain to gain the upper hand in the here and the now. Ironically, it is this drunken voracious need to acquire information that his mind is temporarily taken from the battle at hand and Keeper scores his projectile with ease. "AUGH!" The world explodes in front of Soundwave, he raises both arms to shield his face from the blast as he looks away. A scorched and blackened Soundwave turns around and points an accusing finger towards the Keeper. "Autobot, you shall pay!" A single missile streaks from his shoulder mounted tri-cannon, leaving a smoke trail in it's wake as is shrieks for it's target. Combat: Soundwave strikes Keeper with its Missile Launcher attack! A black and white high-contrast blur catches Fusillade's sight. "Huh, plucky little thing," she muses. "HEY! Decepticon! Get outta tha way!! I've got incoming 'ere!" She probably has never seen Compile before, ever, so has to rely on epithets. She dips one wing, and finally starts getting serious about the firepower, chucking a pair of Mk-82s in his direction. Combat: Space-Going B-1R Lancer strikes Cybertruck with her Bombs attack! Compile loosk at Kup and he stands there, "Come on, you gruesome son of a *****! Come to me. Ha ha ha ha ha ha! Come on!" and he just stands there as Kup does his powerslide and he jumps and as he jumps, his arms transform into pile drives, just like Rumble and Frenzy. As he comes down, he aims for the back of Kup's bed and it is with his pile-drives too. However, this also hits others in an area as well. However, When Fusi does her bombing, Kup disappears form under him, "hey..." and as he lands his pile drivers go off. Combat: Compile strikes Cybertruck with his High Frequency Pile-Drivers Area attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Cybertruck 's Agility. (Crippled) Combat: Compile strikes Scorch with his High Frequency Pile-Drivers Area attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Scorch's Agility. (Crippled) Combat: Compile misses Red Alert with his High Frequency Pile-Drivers Area attack! Combat: Compile strikes Keeper with his High Frequency Pile-Drivers Area attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Keeper's Agility. (Crippled) Crosshairs is having a really bad day. << Yeah, yeah, yeah. Come back to me when you can handle yer drink, Prototype. >> It's the best that he can come up with to Kup's continued harassment on short notice. And then Gnaw makes another lunge for him. Showing that even old 'bots can still dance he steps to the side while at the same time lowering his weapon and attempting to shove both barrels into Gnaw's mouth. From this point he pulls the trigger and both barrels blossom fire and smoke as they attempt to pulverize the back of his throat. Combat: Crosshairs sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Crosshairs strikes Sharkticon with his Indigestion attack! Keeper tries to sidestep the incomming missile, but it's faster than he and the explosion engulfs him. Under the smoke and flame, he falls to a knee. As it disappates, he is just getting back up when Compile's ground assault sends him toppling off his feet. "Ugh!" Keeper crawls up to a knee and turns to Soundwave again. "Conceeded, you're the loudest of them all. The monster face on his torso glows and the maw opens. "Now be elegantly silent." From the torso maw blasts forth fire. Combat: Keeper misses Soundwave with his Flame Spirit (Laser) attack! Cybertruck lands in the middle of the crater rather hard, but fortunately he at least manages to land on his tires. However, he is left vulnerable after the impact, and Compile manages to hop onto him and pile-drive him. If Kup was older he would've known better than to underestimate a small Decepticon--they can be nastier and even more difficult to deal with than ordinary 'cons. "G-g-get off of me!" he yells as he gets shaken like crazy, rocking back and forth. Somehow the vibrations manage to transmit through his rubber tires and into the rest of the ground, too. Maybe this episode was directed by Michael Bay? Worse yet, a pair of bombs drop on him, and Kup briefly vanishes in the massive twin blasts, which do little to help the shaking in the area. Kup, however, is no ordinary truck, and a spray of acid pellets shoot out of the smoke swirling around the young troublemaker. "That is it! GLOVES! ARE! OFF!" Combat: Galvatron damages himself. Combat: Kup sets his defense level to Neutral. The faded green cybertruck springs up and splits apart, revealing the ancient Autobot, Kup! Combat: Galvatron sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Kup strikes Space-Going B-1R Lancer with his Acid Musket Laser attack! -2 <> he reports over the radio. Boy, and he didn't even have to dodge! He turns and starts jogging, once more picking his way through the razor shards, and is nearing the battle focus when he spies Compile about to pile drive into the ground. He stumbles back, and then falls /into/ the ground just as another hole forms up, landing him, more or less, in the same cavern as the others. This actually proves lucky, as he's in the air when the worst of the shake-ups hit, and he manages to land pretty lightly on top of things. However, he's rather disoriented by the fall, and forces himself to take some time and figure out what's going on. Combat: Red Alert takes extra time to steady himself. Pass Scorch mutters as an explosion shakes the ground nearby as Keeper tosses explosives into the hole. Slipping a bit he has little chance to try and regain his footing as the ground is no longer staying put. Cracks begin to open as the quake rips across the hills. One of these all but swallows him up as he slides down slamming into the sides like a ragdoll. The newly formed fissure wasn't deep but the sudden stop at the bottom does little to improve Scorchs mood. With a mix of flight system and good old fashioned climbing he makes it back to the surface easy enough. Pulling forn the rifle he had put away to climb he locates the cause of his latest tumble and takes aim firing off a quick shot. "Me Scorch no likes do da falls down ting!" Combat: Scorch strikes Compile with his Disruptor attack! The roly-poly sharkball does indeed get a bad case of indigestion. He transforms. This Autobot's going to have to be tenderized before he can really start chewing on him. So, he reaches for his tail mace and prepares to try to beat Crosshairs silly with it. Gnaw transforms into his robot mode. Combat: Gnaw misses Crosshairs with his Barbed Mace attack! "Now THAT's more like, nyahahahahhaah!" Fusillade laughs nastily at Kup's misfortune. However, as the debris and smoke clear from the bombblasts, gouts of sizzling hydrofluoric acid smack agianst her hull. "Yeow!!!!" Fusillade yelps in pain, and swerves hard to try to escape the fiery pain. So hard, in fact, that she plasters herself against the recurved edge of one of the many crags that the Razor Hills region are named for. Two chunks of Lancer land on either side of the peak. Compile looks as he grins, "If the ground s a shake in, don't come a ...." and he is hit by the disruptor and he blinks as he falls back. He blinks and looks as he sits up and fires off a shot, in then general direction that the one that just hit him came form. Combat: Compile strikes Scorch with his Pistol attack! Soundwave narrows his red ruby visors. Despite the cacophony of orchestrated explosions, screaming, and metal... Soundwave still registers each and all sounds cellularly. All of them, including Kup's less than stellar appraisal of Soundwave's fighting prowess. The Communications Officer doesn't take kindly to this. Rolling sidelong and away from Keeper's flame. Time to show them just what this radio geek is capable of. Soundwave pounces forward with a clenched fist. Combat: Soundwave strikes Keeper with its Geek Punch attack! SOME TIME AGO Galvatron is enjoying a stress-relieving game of mechano-golf. One can tell just how much stress it has relieved by the veritable conga line of dead Sweeps and Seekers behind him. He reaches down at James the Sweep's face, ripping his beard off and forcing it into the hard ice of Nepsa, where the universe's only Transformer-scale mechano-golf course exists (a fit of Olympic overbuilding). Setting the sphere of pulsing energy down on the makeshift tee, Galvatron reaches for his driver and sizes up the distance -- he just has to make it across the crumbling gorge of ice, which leads down to a river of frozen lava. "Hm," he says, testing the wind. James the Sweep crawls to Galvatron's leg, wrapping his arms around it, like Ironhide before him. "I... I'll wager my spark... to ensure you slice..." the defiant Sweep foolishly quips with his last breath, which is strange because he's a robot and doesn't have lungs. "Such pathetic nonsense," Galvatron growls, looking down at the dying Sweep. "Gambling is /illegal/ at Icewoods, /fool/," he hisses, blasting his cannon downward casually such that a crater suddenly tops the Sweep's neck, "and I /never/ slice." The impact of the shot causes the ice cliff to tremble, though, and the energy sphere falls from its tee and rolls away. "NNNNO!" Galvatron bellows, chasing after it as it bounces toward the cliff. "THAT'S MY LAST /BALL/!" Galvatron dives over the cliff, rocketing downward to try and catch it -- when out of the frozen lava, a carnivorous space whale bursts upward and eats him. NOW The Razor Hills come alive with the sound of horror, as overhead, a large shape begins to descend. It is, in fact, a carnivorous space whale -- or, one should say, the corpse of one. It's being propelled through space in the most horrific way imaginable -- a lethally overbright stream of plasma rocketing out of its rear, shooting it through space, toward Cybertron. It suddenly explodes into the terrain nearby, bursting into a thousand pieces that rain down from the sky like a meatstorm, necrotized, foul-smelling tissue splattering everywhere. And in the whale's innards stands-- "NNNNNYYYYAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHHHH!" "Excellent shot, Lord Galvatron." Ramjet says as he descends from the thin Cybertronic atmosphere. He holds the klud-leather strap of a golfing bag slung over his shoulder. Some of the clubs in that bag of his are horribly bent -- some at acute angles, others in the shape of someone's head. While Galvatron caught the space whale-express, the Air Commander decided to take the next local shuttle back. It looks like he arrived just in time. Ramjet lets in a sniff as he slides his thumb along the sharp angle of his nose. "Would you like to play on with your astro-nine-iron? Or perhaps something of a putting nature, Great One?" Crosshairs is still trapped in the damn hole with all the equipment in question. This is becoming an increasingly frustrating situation as he can hear . . the crash landing of a giant space whale along with the general combat going on outside. << It becomes increasingly useless to be stuck in here! >> The elder armorer protests. << Get. Me. Out. Of. Here. I can't shoot what I can't see! >> And then Gnaw decides to come back for more and he is focibly occupied with defending himself. << What's going on out there? Sounds like a herd of mecha-brontas! >> Then Gnaw lunges at him with that mace-like tail of his. Crosshairs stands his ground; holding fast as the other lunges -- and as he gets close he attempts to grab him by the crotch and the shoulder and piledrive him into a sharp piece of nearby debris face first. Combat: Crosshairs strikes Gnaw with his Gnaw + Sharp Debris=Ow (Smash) attack! Scorch was mid stride to make his way back to the crater when he's shot at. Most people tend to just let him go when he starts to wander away to do something else, in fact most people are glad to see him go. But not this time. Not only did Complie have the nerve to shoot him but he had the audacity to connect. Letting all thoughts of the crater, Crosshairs and whatever was inside slip from his mind he begins to make his way after the smaller Decepticon. Snapping off a thin spike of metal as he goes he hurls it before him like a spear just so Complie doesn't forget he's there or anything. Combat: Scorch misses Compile with his Catch This (Pistol) attack! ~CLANK~ Keeper finds himself introduced to one lonesome Geek Punch. A punch which seems to know it all as it tells him once that Soundwave's got some good hydrualics behind his joints. Now Keeper wants tell to Soundwave something in his smooth deep french voice, something to hopefully put a bump in the Decepticon's so far excellent sense of combative timing. "I've always loved you." He rises and steps forward with a ramming stomp of his foot. He hopes in the meantime Crosshairs is doing something to improve his own situation that called for someone to take Soundwaves attention away. Combat: Keeper misses Soundwave with his Heavy Kick (Kick) attack! Red Alert finally manages to get back to his feet when an enormous impact and its aftermath outside rattles the cavern he's in, knocking him back down. "I'm too damn old for this frag," he grumbles, removing a flask from a compartment in his right arm as he gets /back/ up and follows the noise of combat - specifically of Crosshairs and Keeper fighting Gnaw and Soundwave. His optics narrow and he takes a swig before tucking the flask away. Red Alert rarely encounters Soundwave face to face - the two more often battle over the airwaves, with Red Alert being on the distinct /losing/ side of that battle. As his rifle slides back into his hand, the Security Director decides to take the opportunity to bring the fight to physical form instead, aiming for the Communications expert. Combat: Red Alert strikes Soundwave with his High-Energy Particle Beam Rifle attack! -5 Kup dusts himself off, smirking and nodding to himself as he overhears Fusillade's crash. Strange, though, it sounded like TWO crashes. "Yep, that's what you get. I dunno what she thought was gunna happen, I mean, frag, I ain't gonna go easy on her just cuz she's a girlbot. Pfft, as if. Fraggin' psycho con b****es," he snarks. Then someone discourteously and inexplicably showers him with whale goop, and Kup stands for a moment, gawking at himself. "Who the... you!" he points upwards at Galvatron, and begins to fire at him, more out of anger than duty. Combat: Kup strikes Galvatron with his Just The Laser Hold the Acid attack! -3 The Sharkticon finds himself planted facefirst into the side of the wall. He flails for a bit before righting himself, and pulling out his weapon. Sure, Gnaw can't hit the broad side of Metroplex, but he's at least going to try. He fires at Crosshairs. Combat: Gnaw strikes Crosshairs with his Pistol attack! Compile looks at the thrown spike and he jumps, landing on it and hang-tens, "Surf's Up Dudes," he says in a very bad Surfer accent. As he surfs the spike, he reachs down, grabs in and flips. As he flips, he hurls the spike back at Scorch, aiming for the joint where the leg meets the body, and either leg will work. Combat: Compile strikes Scorch with his Spike ya (Grab) attack! Soundwave blocks Keeper's boot with both armored forearms upraised. "Fail." Red Alert's shot strikes true at the center of Soundwave and the Decepticon takes a step or two stumbling back and regaining his precarious balance, purple smoke curling from the exit wound. It seems the Communications Officer has tunnel vision as the slightest distractions keep him from watching for peripheral dangers. A venomous glare shoots in Red Alert's direction, and suddenly, a sharp unbearable high-pitched wail that only Red can hear... Combat: Soundwave strikes Red Alert with its Voices in my Head attack! -3 Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Red Alert's Agility. (Crippled) At Ramjet's offer, Galvatron looks around. "Nine--" he begins to say, before Kup shoots him in the nose. Clutching at his face, Galvatron lets out a braying "BAAAWWWW" before looking up, wisps of smoke dancing in front of his red eyes. "--hh. I don't know who you /are/, you youthful /cretin/," Galvatron calls to the newly renewed Kup, "but your brief life is at an /end/!" Galvatron then grabs at the nearest golf club available -- that is, Ramjet's arm-laser -- and rips it away, clutching it like a club. "NNYYYAAAAAAHHH!" he cries, hoisting it above his head and attempting to swing it like Barry Bonds -- that is, in as deceitful a way as possible, because as it turns out, Galvatron is on /Unicron steroids/. "DIIIIEEEE!" Galvatron will, of course, figure out the occasion as he goes. For now, his nose must be avenged. Combat: Galvatron strikes Kup with his Ramjet's Arm Laser Ha Ha Ha Suck It Har (Smash) attack! *Krrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrutch!* "YEEEEEEEEEEEEAGH, WHAT THE.. HELL--" Ramjet yowls as the gun is ripped out of its socket, yanking a handful of wires out of position which promptly snap. They dance in the air, sparking away, sending pain racing across his circuits. He reaches over to cradle his shoulder and then widen his optics when Galvatron starts swinging wide. "OH FFFFFR--" Ramjet goes sprawling to the ground, the tip of his cone going ding! when his weapon barely hits it when Galvatron goes swinging. "WHY!" Ramjet asks the heavens. "WHY DID I LET MYSELF INJECT THOSE UNICRON STEROIDS INTO GALVATRON'S POSTERIOR PLATING!? OH THE THINGS I DO FOR LOVE OF PERSONAL POWER!" The aged hide of the Autobot Armorer is lined with weathering and cracks. Nonetheless, it manages to resist Gnaw's shot which impacts at the top of his chest near to where the cross bracing of the back of his vehicle mode 'cab' forms a rollbar. His eyes are smouldering by now. He is sick of being stuck in a hole. He's sick of the entire Apocalyticon thing. He's sick of the entire war. He's sick of fighting. And he's /especially/ sick of Gnaw. Tossing his rifle upwards it transforms into Pinpointer who hangs back as Crosshairs picks the bullet out of his hide. "Want this back?" He tosses it upwards into the air and then lunges for Gnaw. At a dead run his left hand attempts to palm the Sharkticon's head while the right one -- the bullet balled in his fist -- attempts to punch him in the mouth/face as hard as he possibly can -- hand opening at the last second in an effort to force feed him his own projectile. Combat: Crosshairs misses Gnaw with his Have it Back (Punch) attack! Scorch was a bit to preoccupied to dodge the returning spike completly but was able to turn aside just enough to avoid singing soprano. Pausing in his lumbering march he reaches down and pulls the projectile free tossing it aside. Muttering to himself about having to remember not to throw things at targets that they can throw back he slowly begins to work his way towards Compile. Keeper takes the opportunity of Soundwave's distraction by a better warrior than Keeper to go down the crater for the search and rescue of Crosshairs, the whole reason for being here. He transforms into monsterbot mode to make quick travel. It won't be hard, just hone in on the sounds of battle with a Sharkticon. "Crosshairs, quit playing with that mindless slave. Let's get you out." Combat: Keeper takes extra time to steady himself. Pass Red Alert throws back his head as Soundwave delivers an attack targeted to Red's own enhanced hearing, causing the Autobot to throw back his head and cup his hands over his audio sensor 'horns' in pain. "Yaaaaarrrrrgh!!" he shrieks, then falls foward against an ancient, inoperational terminal. The ringing in his ears afterwards are enough to drown out the very familiar scream outside, but his radio still works fine, and as he hears Galvatron's voice come over Decepticon frequencies, his optics open wide and he groans. "Oh no..." He looks up at Crosshairs. "Crosshairs, what the hell you doing here, anyway! We got /big/ trouble!" He scans the area, looking for an escape route rather than continuing the fight. If Galvatron's here, he needs to be looking either for a way to run (and help Crosshairs run) or to get out there and *gulp* distract his attention, and neither can be done down here. Combat: Red Alert takes extra time to steady himself. Pass Keeper, the hardened security mech, transforms down to a four legged monstrosity. Are we sure this is an Autobot? Kup's optics fly wide open as Galvatron rips a part off of his own soldier, using it as a weapon against him! "You're fraggin' nuts, you psycho--" Ramjet's gun connects with the bottom of his jaw, and while the young Autobot's head doesn't obligingly fly off like a golf ball, his entire body is nevertheless sent into the air, and it narrowly flies past the communication hub/data library that everyone is fighting so hard for. He impacts against the other side of the crater with a grunt, collapsing on the floor. Kup stands up wearily, his targeting systems briefly scrambled. "Unnnh... uh..." he grunts out, aiming his rifle about the area. "Can't.... tell..." He pulls the trigger what might be Galvatron. Or maybe it's a blurred vision of him. In that case, Crosshairs might be in trouble if Kup lands a hit! Combat: Kup sets his defense level to Guarded. Combat: Kup misses Crosshairs with his Laser attack! Red Alert says, "Kup, you idio- wait, did that stupid punk even switch to the operational freq?" Gnaw manages to get out of the way of Crosshairs, not keen on eating his own projectile while he's in robot mode. No, instead he switches to his Maceration Laser. If anything could soften that Autobot up, this could. Pre-digested Autobot, anyone? Combat: Gnaw strikes Crosshairs with his Maceration Laser attack! Red Alert says, "Kup, you idiot!" Keeper says, "Is it even secure anymore?" Kup says, "Wha--" Chief Crosshairs says, "What the frag!" Red Alert says, "You're firing on Crosshairs!" Chief Crosshairs says, "Watch what the pit yer firin' at ya dense headed rustbucket!" Scorch says, "Him no can help dat hims stoopids." Kup says, "I... I couldn't tell what I was shooting at!" Steeltread says, "Maybe he needs his optics replaced." Steeltread says, "...or.....what do the terrans call them? Glasses?" Kup says, "Maybe YOU'LL need a new face when I get back!" Red Alert says, "Friendly fire, isn't! Now get on the damn op- nnggggh! Fraggin' Soundwave!" Steeltread says, "gotta COME back to do that, youngin'...." Soundwave watches as both Keeper and Red Alert shift their attention away from him, the forer to assist his comrade and the latter showing well-placed concern in the arrival of Galvatron. Soundwave lowers his mental offensive against Red, allowing the Autobot to regain the ability to concentrate on their retreat... better that they run than damage the archaeological site moreso than they already have. Combat: Soundwave takes extra time to steady itself. Pass Red Alert starts shouting, "And yes, Soundwave, I know you're fraggin' listening! Well, listen to this: I'm gonna pull your antennae off and stuff 'em so far down your chest compartment..." Then he stops shotting and finishes, annoyed, "Damn, forgot where I was going with this one." As he sends Kup -- the robot alleged to be Kup -- flying with a clatter, Galvatron indulges in a bit of radio banter, always useful to keep the morale up. Not his own, of course, because he becomes so rapidly infuriated that he's /screaming/ his radio communication: literally, for everyone on site to hear. "Why do I surround myself with /IMBECILES/?!" he screams, hurling Ramjet's arm-laser away as if it were a twig. He scans the situation with burning eyes, seeing faces both familiar and strange to him: "Kup looks nothing /LIKE/ that -- but this /strange new Autobot/ will see his end at my -- /WHO JUST SAID THAT?!/ IDENTIFY YOURSELF!" Galvatron stops in his advancement, staring this way and that, mouth going agape with horror, nose crooked like Owen Wilson's from the laser shot. "Nyyy--" he says, choking out a gnarled gurgle as he realizes what's happening. The Transformers are slowly being replaced by /Quintesson impostors/. This is the only rational theory. And if people are already believing this /charalatan/ to be Kup, he realizes, they must /all/ be under Quintesson control. "NOOOOOO!" Galvatron bellows. "DIE, SERVANTS OF THOSE TENTACTLED TITMOUSES! I WILL /CRUSH/ YOUR PRETENDING BODIES AS IF THEY WERE MERE /SHELLS/ BENEATH MY BOOTS! GRAAAAHHHH!" Galvatron then begins opening fire on /everyone/, shooting his cannon this way and that indiscriminately. He can only trust Ramjet -- but Ramjet's an ass, so he shoots at him anyway. Ramjet is an ass. It is true. Steeltread says, "Kick 'em in the chest." Combat: Galvatron strikes Kup with his Fusion Cannon Area attack! -5 Combat: Galvatron strikes Ramjet with his Fusion Cannon Area attack! -5 Combat: Galvatron strikes Soundwave with his Fusion Cannon Area attack! -5 Combat: Galvatron strikes Gnaw with his Fusion Cannon Area attack! -5 Combat: Galvatron strikes Red Alert with his Fusion Cannon Area attack! -5 Combat: Galvatron strikes Temple Dog with his Fusion Cannon Area attack! -5 Combat: Galvatron strikes Crosshairs with his Fusion Cannon Area attack! -5 Compile looks at Scorch and thnks, "Come on, you want a piece of this tape," he says to him as he moves towards him as well, not knowing what Galvatron is planning and than the holy living hell of fire comes and he blinks as he looks at where it is coming from and sees Galvatron pulling the trigger and people droping, except him and Scourch. "..." and he shrugs as he runs forward and pulls his left hand back and as he gets closer, he jumps and sends a punch to the face of Scorch. Combat: Compile misses Scorch with his Punch attack! The fusion cannon of the Decepticon Emperor is a strange thing. It is capable of such immense destruction. And yet . . Galvatron is capable of such random and dumb luck. He is simply one of those forces in the universe that things seem to happen to and around that don't make any sense whatsoever. << What the frag, Kup! Watch where the pit yer firin' at ya dense headed rust bucket! >> Crosshairs just has time to bellow this as he hits the deck to avoid Kup's shot. He'd like to respond to Scorch and Red Alert, but he's too busy being SHOT AT BY EVERYONE. Meanwhile he is struck full bore by Gnaw's laser -- the damage eating into the previously largely undamaged armor and causing him to curl into a fetal position for a split second. Then Galvatron opens up and fusion cannon blasts begin to land all over the place. Several of them impact into the communications equipment. 95% of what it hits, it pulverizes . . but with energy weapons there is always waste electricity. Whomever designed this system accounted for almost every security variable possible. It is impossible to hack, even disassembly would not have yielded results. What does yield results is DUMB DECEPTICON LUCK. BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZAAAAK! Waste energy from the blast crackles through long-dormant systems and a portion of the system surges to life. A bright green communications laser surges vertically into the sky from a hidden projector -- visibly riccocheting off of a hidden satellite, then another, then another, then another until it dissapears into deep space where it presumably is still bouncing off of satellites and relay stations. . all the way back to the other end of the network. Then the systems, now full of holes from Galvatron's tender love begin to overload -- but all is not finished yet. A new light is visible in the sky -- another laser beam bouncing through the network. This one blood red. A holographic comms station activates and projects an image of a very tall looking robot that has a long beard down to his 'pectorals' and does -not- show any 'kibble' that transformation components usually leave. "Automated system responding. Contingency plan activated. Power systems at 3% of nominal. Shutting down all unnecessary systems. Unholy Actuator Explosive charging commencing. Launch in . . . " Then the power to the communication device fails. Then the entire thing explodes -- the force of which sends a badly damaged Crosshairs flying right out of the cavern where he lands in a somewhat mangled heap. "Ow." Combat: Crosshairs sets his defense level to Protected. Combat: Crosshairs takes extra time to steady himself. Pass Kup says, "Ahhh! Arggh! I'm dying! I'm going to die!" Crosshairs says, "*FOOM*" Red Alert says, "We've got to retreat! Now!" Crosshairs says, "...*soft groan* Alert, did you catch that?" Crosshairs says, "Please tell me yes. That yes, you recorded it. Just say yes." Red Alert says, "Yeah, I got it. We go." Combat: Galvatron misses Compile with his SORRY MY BAD attack! -5 Ramjet props himself up and begins to get back onto his feet, only to inadvertently present his back to Galvatron. The fusion cannon blast cracks against him from behind, disintegrating a thick layer of plating. "Yeaaagh!" Ramjet turns his cone and glances past his shoulder, catching glimpse of a Galvatron gone mad! Reflector and Sunder, in their foolishness, have enraged the mad lord of the Decepticons. In the face of this, Ramjet decides living is the better part of valor. Getting back to his feet, the Air Commander makes for a brisk run before leaping into the air, transforming into a jet and blasting away! Ramjet transforms! His arms fold into his chest cavity as his legs fuse together to allow his thruster housings to slide snug against his chassis. Wings link together and lock into place as his cockpit twists into position. Combat: Reinforced YF-15 Star Eagle begins retreating, outrunning all pursuit. Kup takes a nasty little shot from Galvatron right in the chest, his armor burning away rapidly under the tyrant's immense firepower. He clutches at the new injury, gasping in pain, Crosshairs reprimands barely registering to him. He cowers--yes, cowers--away from Galvatron, holding out a hand as if trying to hold him away. "D-d-don't kill me, please! Please don't kill me! I--I'm young again! I got millenia ahead of me and I don't want to... I don't want to die!" he sputters. His moment of cowardice is interrupted once the communication device detonates, and it tosses him out of the crater as well. He lands roughly on the jagged terrain, face first. Temple Dog is flattened to the ground as Galva-wrath rains down and paints him a distinct shade of Ouch. The beast growls as his four limbs push his body back upright in time to witness the communications relay output and return message travelling upon a network of satellites. Nevermind that Cybertron has shifted place dramatically in the Galaxy. :p Keeper digs in his fore-claws and tears up a hunk of ground, putting himself behind it as a shield just as the explosion erupts. He casts it off and goes bounding out of the crater to retrieve Crosshairs. Combat: Kup takes extra time to steady himself. Pass It's not that Red Alert doesn't hear Galvatron coming. How can he /not/ hear Galvatron coming? It's that his systems are still slowed by Soundwave's sonic attack - not to mention his own increasing age. He's knocked forward, his back now a smoking ruin, the whole business ratcheting his anger up into astronomical levels. Enough so that he tries to chew Soundwave out over his own factional frequency. The ranting is cut off by the ancient communication device re-activating, and he lifts his head, eyes wide, to take in the signal, not even sparing a moment of disgust over Kup's behavior. Oh, but he'll remember. The thing goes off, blowing him further down the tunnel he's in. But in all the battles and explosions, some of the razor shards have been knocked partway into the craters and crevices, now providing an escape route! He calls the others over the radio, creeping painfully back to try to help them find it, but making himself a /very/ vulnerable target. Combat: Red Alert takes extra time to steady himself. Pass Scorch hasn't made it far when he's sent sprawling as the upper portion of the hill is blasted from above, good thing he wasn't near the crater. He would thank Compile for drawing him far enough away from the area that he was spared if it wasn't for the fact that Compile just tried to punch him in the face. Sidestepping the leaping tape Scorch is prevented from lashing out by the expolsion in the crater that sends shards of metal and other debris and people flying all about. Holding up an arm to shield himself he shakes his head and comments, "Dat am not way to do fly ting, guess dem not as goods at it as me Scorch am. Tink maybe me needs teach dem soon so dey be gooders at it den dis." Red Alert reports, "I've found a way out, folks. You don't wanna get scrapped, you'll head this way." The last words are spat out. "And yeah, that includes you, /Kup/." Somehow, he makes the last word sound like 'coward' instead. Scorch says, "We done wif smashing part alreadys? Seem like just gets here." Red Alert says, "We got here to rescue Crosshairs. If we can get him out of this hole, we don't have to all be killed by Galvatron!" Crosshairs says, "I'm ... out of the hole. *grunts painfully*" Crosshairs says, "You may notice when it exploded, that thing that flew out of it was me, Lad. I'll be on my feet in a second, just restoring some energy levels." Crosshairs says, "With that thing having blown, we've no need to be here. Yer right -- time to run." Kup says, sounding a bit frightened, "I'm... I'm out, too!" Crosshairs pauses. The line hangs open in shock like someone slapped him. Crosshairs says, ". . . you all right, Lad?" Scorch says, "Hmm be killed no sound like fun ting, guess smashing can waits til other times." Kup says, "I'm fine!!! Just... lay off of me!" Scorch says, "Me Scorch see him Crosshair do fly ting, him not very goods at it though." Oh what fickle fate! The Sharkticon is blasted by his own side. By Galvatron, no less. The Shark flails, but he needs fuel desperately. He tries to get his meal from Crosshairs. Oh, for the taste of an Autobot's fuel line...hopefully properly tenderized too. Gnaw transforms into his Sharkticon mode. Soundwave collapses like a marionnette doll, strings cut... and rather than scissors, it is hot flaming pink plasma of death from the tip of Galvatron's cannon. Flat on his face, Soundwave pushes himself up, electricity writhing like a snake about his body as his cracked and crumpled form rises slowly out of the debris. Uncontrolled spasms aside, Soundwave is able to compose himself to a kneeled position, looking up just in time to see the transmission... and the explosion. The world goes spinning as he is sent airborne, flipping again and again before landing some distance away in the jagged terrain with a loud resounding crash. Despite the pain, Soundwave is already at work trying to recall the name Apocalyticons in his distant memory. Combat: Sharkticon misses Crosshairs with his Feeding Frenzy attack! Compile looks up as a shot form Galvatron misses him and he breaths a heathy sigh of relief and than he sees the green laser as he flies through space. As it bounces off a hidden satellite, he blinks and begins to track the bounces and redirects, "I'll need to check those out," he says to himself, forgetting aobut the fight all together as the green laser elave and disappears. "Than he sees a second one, only red and tracing the same path back. "..." o.0 and he blinks a few times and does the math, "Crap." is all he says as he starts to run.....as fast as his tape feet will take him, and with a velocity of a 36, that is not that fast. As Compile runs, he looks over his shoulder, sees the red laser hit and than hears the words, and sees the explosion, and blinks as he is thrown and heads right for galvatron's bag of clubs and impacts into it hard and stays there. Oh look, Galvy has a new Golf club, and its name is Compile. Combat: Soundwave takes extra time to steady itself. Pass Red Alert says, "Sorry. Between Soundwave's attack, Galvatron's blast, and the explosion, my senses are ringing pretty bad. I'll be out of there in a bit, then." The giant image of a strange robot appears -- and Galvatron steps forward, the flaring energy of the dying communications station washing over his purple body, leaving him scorched but unbowed. "I FEAR /NO ONE/!" Galvatron roars, lifting his fist to shake it upward at the giant hologram. "IDENTIFY YOURSELF, QUINTESSON SCUM -- THAT I MAY HAVE THE /PLEASURE/ OF /KNOWING/ WHO IT IS I MURD--" Galvatron is still ranting when the power to the array cuts, but it's the explosion that cuts him off. Because he foolishly proceeded forward when others ran away, he is hurled backward by the blast, skidding through the terrain. His golf bag catches on his arm as he rockets away, grinding a horrific gouge into the land with his trajectory. Finally, he comes to a halt, smoking and mottled with craters, white smoke spilling up from under him. "Nnny-- nn-- ggh-- ggkkk," he rasps, eyes flickering -- black to red, red to black. Crosshairs rises slowly to his feet as his systems manage to re-route power around disabled sections. He's looking worse for wear, but not -that- bad except for the smear of blueish energon that is trickling out from the corner of his mouth. He is dented and scratched from Gnaw's attentions, blackened from the explosion, but this is nothing like the sparking hole that is visible in his lower left side that is still bleeding smoke. Even when Gnaw lunges, he just transforms and accelerates -- his hardened tires managing to somehow stand up to the rough ground as he follows after Red Alert. He transforms when he gets to Kup, pulling out his rifle again and not saying anything to the other but being -- or trying to be -- the supportive old man he is with everyone and just being /there/. "Let's get outta here, Lads. Thanks for comin' to save my rusty old bucket." Combat: Crosshairs begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Kup, Reinforced YF-15 Star Eagle , Soundwave, Galvatron, Sharkticon , and Temple Dog Temple Dog sees Crosshairs survived enough to keep himself motoring, so the guard-bot is set at ease and merely follows, looking to abandoned this sorely abused landscape. No doubt if Cybertron has a spark, it weeps throughout the ages. Combat: Temple Dog begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Reinforced YF-15 Star Eagle Scorch has heard his fellow Autobots chatter on about escape plans and the mission being complete all all that sounds pointless. There are still Decepticons around to smash and Scorch hasn't even gotten the chance to snap anyone in half. Thinking that perhaps he'll stick around and have some fun his opinion shifts when talk of being killed comes up. Pausing to think it over he is passed first by Compile who is making a mad dash, moving about as fast as Scorch himself can, to save his hide from lights in the sky then by Galvatron. Saddly Galvatron is less than impressive in his skidding past than Compile was but it's enough to get Scorch to rethink his idea of sticking around. Kicking his flight pack into action he takes off moving with all haste away from the crater. Combat: Scorch begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Kup, Reinforced YF-15 Star Eagle , Soundwave, Galvatron, Sharkticon , Red Alert, Temple Dog , and Crosshairs On hearing that the others are out, Red Alert scrambles back down the side tunnel and scrambles up the escape route he spied. He wavers, barely on his feet, but stays in robot mode - this area is just too damn harsh on tires - before stumbling forward, heading towards the others. He takes a moment to /glare/ at Kup - this is angry disillusioned old man, not supportive old man - but as angry as he is, he takes a moment to make sure that Kup can get away before he starts to run himself, painfully switching to vehicle mode as soon as he's clear of the razor-edged ground. Combat: Red Alert begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Kup, Reinforced YF-15 Star Eagle , Soundwave, Galvatron, Sharkticon , and Temple Dog Kup lays there on the ground for a moment, shaking in terror from his brush with death. But as Crosshairs approaches, attempting to console him, his reaction is not one of relief, but of *anger.* At himself, for how shamefully he performed in the battle today, and at the others, for being there to see it. "SHUT UP!" he yells at Crosshairs. "SHUT UP! You know what!? You weren't worth saving, pal! You weren't worth it!" Kup springs up and continues to rage at Crosshairs. "I could've died down there! Died! That lunatic was shooting the living daylights out of me, and why, to get some stupid records!? You can go to hell! You can ALL go to hell!" He reverts to truck mode, then, racing away and trailing blackened fumes. Kup falls forward, folding up into really old looking futuristic truck! Combat: Cybertruck begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Reinforced YF-15 Star Eagle Soundwave suddenly remembers where he's heard the name Apocalyticons before and is instantly revitalized. A zealous Sam Raimi fist punches through the debris burying him! *dum dum dum* The roly-poly ball of Shark chases after Crosshairs! He barely got a nibble out of the Autobot, and he at least wanted to have a little bit more before his meal got away. His gaping jaws snap at Crosshair's rapidly escaping backside. Combat: Sharkticon misses Crosshairs with his Take-Out dinner special delivery (Kick) attack! Clutching his skull with one mighty and damaged hand, Galvatron gets up, slinging his golf bag over his shoulder. "Impostors... everywhere... must... must find... the /real/ Decepticons... so that... nnn... SO THAT I CAN /KILL/ THEM FOR LETTING THIS /AFFRONT/ OCCUR! RRRRAAAAHHHHGGHHHHH!" And so, with Compile in his golf bag, Galvatron flies off into the starlit sky, sparking the whole way, plans spinning in his broken, addled mind. Compile blinks as he is carried off, "Can I be let out of here?" "BE /QUIET/, BAG!" Galvatron growls at what he assumes to be another of his many and varied hallucinations. Compile mutters to himself, "Who spiked his energon?"